General Infrastructure

[F-Line to Dudley]

Does anyone know what the project underlying the lane shift on Rt 2 from about Lake St to Alewife is? The lane shift is rather abrupt and I've seen a lot of people get caught out by it.

Drove through here on Sat. They're reconstructing the median from Lake St. to the Minuteman bridge and putting in fresh-install jersey barrier. Lighting project seems to be stopping at the Cambridge line with no signs of any replacement of the (mostly broken or missing) fixtures next to Vox.

As for the main lighting project...substantially complete now Lexington line to Cambridge line excepting a few missing poles. And even more garishly overbuilt than before. Must suck to have a house with bedrooms facing the frontage roads now. Oddly there's about a quarter-mile of median-running high-mast fixtures starting before the Winter St. exit, but then it switches to side fixtures the rest of the way. Consolidating it all in the center median except for the exit ramps would've been a lot cheaper and more efficient since they ended up completely wholesale re-trenching the side conduits and re-pouring the side concrete mounts twice over. Not to mention probably less obtrusive to the surrounding residential areas if mounted in the center instead of towering over the frontage roads. The I.D.G.A.F. vibe is very strong with this project.

 

[DrFreewind]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1417480172522070023

Oversized load hit the Roosevelt Circle overpass bridge, going to be major delays on 93S which was already busy due to the RT1 road work. Going to be messy

 

[mass88]

Could they completely replace this overpass in a similar manner to the fast bridge projects they've done?

 

[Riverside]

Holy Moses:

On Tuesday, state Department of Transportation officials were urging drivers to steer clear of I-93 and to expect delays on Route 1 south, Route 16, Route 28, and Roosevelt Circle for the next several months due to the work that must be done to fix the bridge.

All lanes of I-93 south in Medford will reopen âat some pointâ Wednesday, officials say - The Boston Globe

Transportation officials warned drivers to expect delays on Route 1 south, Route 16, Route 28, and Roosevelt Circle for “the next several months” while permanent repairs are made on the bridge.

www.bostonglobe.com

Here I go off to one of the transit threads to speculate what kinds of service enhancements this might prompt....

 

[jass]

First they will need to put together a commission to investigate the feasibility of increasing service. I am sure the comission will be populated by December at which point they can schedule their first meeting for next March and have a report finalized by December 2022.

 

[ceo]

Could they completely replace this overpass in a similar manner to the fast bridge projects they've done?

Fast bridge replacement actually takes longer start to finish than conventional methods, because you have to build everything ahead of time. It's just the actual installation that's faster.

 

[Arlington]

Could they completely replace this overpass in a similar manner to the fast bridge projects they've done?

Fast Bridge replacement works, in part, because you’ve designed the new span procured and prepped the replacement (and had a chance to stage the parts somewhere). Using fast bridge techniques you might be able to replace it in a weekend but it would be a year from now [I hadn’t seen CEOs post when I answered this]

 

[fatnoah]

Many more details than the linked Globe article: https://boston.cbslocal.com/2021/07...raffic-lanes-closed-medford-roosevelt-circle/

 

[reno]

Who here remembers the 1996 Boston Herald headline "The Lumberjerk" the drunken Canadian truck driver who struck a critical structural support at the infamous "weave" at 93 SB/ Route 1 SB /Storrow exit pre-Big Dig configuration. He may finally be exonerated.

Boston traffic jammed by truck mishap - UPI Archives

A Canadian lumber truck driver was charged with drunken driving Thursday after an accident on the main elevated highway through Boston created a massive...

www.upi.com

 

[Arlington]

I’d like to see a class action suit against the trucking company seeking compensation for fuel and time that’s going to be wasted by highway users, and for the compensation to be free CR trips on the Lowell, Haverhill, and N/Rport lines for as long as it takes to fix

 

[stefal]

Anyone have experience with emergency repair design like this? I figured the state would have someone on a contract of sorts for things like this, and that it wouldn't take several weeks for design. The cost/benefit of the premium for immediate design labor/hours to get this thing ready and reopened likely outweighs the economic cost this will have through traffic.

 

[Stlin]

I’d like to see a class action suit against the trucking company seeking compensation for fuel and time that’s going to be wasted by highway users, and for the compensation to be free CR trips on the Lowell, Haverhill, and N/Rport lines for as long as it takes to fix

Honestly? Not sure what MassDOT (let alone anyone else) wil actually be able to get in terms of compensation. The FMCSA lists these guys as having 12 Drivers, 22 trucks, and only insured up to 1M, without a required bond on file. Notably, MA doesn't require oversize cargo to have be bonded; only Boston, on city roadways has such a requirement.

Either way, this event might be a business ender. I suspect all their assets won't rise to the cost of the bridge repair. At the end of the day, this isn't a major national firm like Schneider with billions in assets. Personally, I would tend to think MA might settle for the max insurance proceeds.

 

[millerm277]

Honestly? Not sure what MassDOT (let alone anyone else) wil actually be able to get in terms of compensation. The FMCSA lists these guys as having 12 Drivers, 22 trucks, and only insured up to 1M, without a required bond on file. Notably, MA doesn't require oversize cargo to have be bonded; only Boston, on city roadways has such a requirement.

Either way, this event might be a business ender. I suspect all their assets won't rise to the cost of the bridge repair. At the end of the day, this isn't a major national firm like Schneider with billions in assets. Personally, I would tend to think MA might settle for the max insurance proceeds.

It also lists them as having a 61% out of service rate (failing inspections badly enough to be immediately placed out of service), which is pretty appalling.

 

[Highwayguy]

Anyone have experience with emergency repair design like this? I figured the state would have someone on a contract of sorts for things like this, and that it wouldn't take several weeks for design. The cost/benefit of the premium for immediate design labor/hours to get this thing ready and reopened likely outweighs the economic cost this will have through traffic.

Honestly, after 93 is fully open sometime today, the traffic impacts of this aren’t going to be that significant. The beam the truck hit is completely toast and will be removed along with the ~8 or so feet of bridge deck it supports. In some of the pictures you can actually see that the beam ripped the rebar out of the parapet when it rotated. It looks like a majority of the work the last few days was just removing all the spalled concrete so it wouldn’t fall onto live traffic below. Probably a few night/weekend closures on 93 to in the next week or two to remove the beam and the rest of the affected deck, and a few more in the fall to reinstall the beam are all that’s left for ‘major’ congestion headaches. Unfortunately Beams'R'Us isn't a thing, so it’s going to take a while to get the replacement spec'd, fabricated, and shipped.


As far as Roosevelt Circle, curb to curb width of the bridge is approximately 40 (!!) feet, subtract 3 or so feet for the parapet and figure an additional 7’ for tie in, temp barrier, and workzone, so it’s looking like a long term reduction to a 28’ usable width. More than enough to handle the existing 2 lanes with a restripe. Obviously a headache and an un anticipated million plus dollar job, but not a 6 months long traffic nightmare for the North Shore.

 

[Stlin]

Unfortunately Beams'R'Us isn't a thing, so it’s going to take a while to get the replacement spec'd, fabricated, and shipped.


As far as Roosevelt Circle, curb to curb width of the bridge is approximately 40 (!!) feet, subtract 3 or so feet for the parapet and figure an additional 7’ for tie in, temp barrier, and workzone, so it’s looking like a long term reduction to a 28’ usable width. More than enough to handle the existing 2 lanes with a restripe. Obviously a headache and an un anticipated million plus dollar job, but not a 6 months long traffic nightmare for the North Shore.

Given the massive available width and how oversized it appears to be, would it be possible to actually just demolish the two beams and not replace them? As in... Just build a new parapet, sidewalk and railing tying into the existing undamaged width, with a jersey barrier transition to widen back out on the undamaged 93N span?

 

[Highwayguy]

Given the massive available width and how oversized it appears to be, would it be possible to actually just demolish the two beams and not replace them? As in... Just build a new parapet, sidewalk and railing tying into the existing undamaged width, with a jersey barrier transition to widen back out on the undamaged 93N span?

Eh, probably not. The transition would be jankey and would limit future options to fix the circle to make it less of a death trap for cyclists. Not to mention there could be structural considerations none of us are privy to. One thing to yank a beam for six months, another to do it permanently. Exterior beams also may be sized/spaced/braced differently to account for the weight of the parapet/ vehicle strikes. It could open up a whole lot of questions to save a relatively trivial amount of money to DOT. Not to mention the PR aspect of not fully repairing a critical asset (e.g. the 8 pages of complaining over rusty trolly poles over in the MBTA thread).

.......

Also per an update via the Globe,

Looks like the damage was more significant than anticipated and 93 may have lane closures through tomorrow's AM rush. Reading the tea leaves, I'd guess the impact was enough to damage the deck over the adjacent beam(s). Might see Roosevelt go down to one lane depending on how much deck has to be replaced.

 

[The EGE]

Jamey Tesler appointed MassDOT Secretary. Sounds like he's been acting since Pollack left. From the press release:

Prior to his appointment as Acting Secretary in January, Tesler served as Registrar of Motor Vehicles. He has years of experience across the Department of Transportation and has worked for more than 16 years in senior management roles in the public sector, including as General Counsel to the Massachusetts State Treasurer, Deputy Legal Counsel in the Office of the Governor, Deputy General Counsel for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), MassDOT Assistant Secretary for Procurement and Contract Management, Acting Chief of Staff for the Secretary of Transportation, and then as Chief Operating Officer at MassDOT. Tesler received his bachelor’s degree in Economics and International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania and his Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan.

 

[mass88]

What's the reason highways in Massachusetts are not made with concrete? Out in the Chicago area, the Dan Ryan Expressway is concrete and they have a similar (even a little bit colder) climate than us.

 

[North Shore]

What's the reason highways in Massachusetts are not made with concrete? Out in the Chicago area, the Dan Ryan Expressway is concrete and they have a similar (even a little bit colder) climate than us.

1) Cost: It's cheaper to use asphalt out here
2) Lifecycle: With the freeze/thaw cycles and road salt, concrete just doesn't hold up as well out here. There's a reason portions of 495 were reconstructed in their entirety 20 plus years ago.

 

[Charlie_mta]

What's the reason highways in Massachusetts are not made with concrete? Out in the Chicago area, the Dan Ryan Expressway is concrete and they have a similar (even a little bit colder) climate than us.

What North Shore said above, and also because in the 1950s when William F. Callahan was head of Mass DPW (precursor to MassDOT), he directed that Mass expressways would not be paved with concrete because he didn't like the bump, bump, bump that happens at the concrete joints, especially as the slabs age and settle.